The Haider affair

If you didn’t catch this in the newspapers, you must have had your head in the sand. Zulqarnain Haider was a member of the Pakistan national cricket team, and one of the players swept up in the match fixing scandal that rocked the cricket world this year. Haider was Pakistan’s second choice wicket keeper. He fled Dubai – and the team – after he received messages threatening him and his family. He flew to the UK, where he announced his retirement from international cricket (his brother alleged that the Pakistan Cricket Board knew of the threats and did nothing about them). The threats apparently came from individuals attempting to force him to fix games. Haider said, “When I went out of the hotel to eat dinner once, he came up. He was alone but I felt there were two to three people behind him. I can describe him. He spoke Urdu but I cannot describe the accent accurately. He said you will make lots of money if you join us and help us. If not, then staying in the team could be difficult and we can make things difficult for you. I don’t know why I was approached and others weren’t.” Haider says he will return to cricket if the cricket board can guarantee his and his family’s safety.